While I tend to not think it's worth giving a lot of pub to crazy people, sometimes I just feel the need to weigh in a little bit on some things.
Last week, on the Handsome Hour, both Boilerdowd and I predicted a 4-8 season. Some people told us we were too close to the ledge, and that's fine. Others got belligerent and nasty and implied that our "negative" attitude and mindset were to blame for Purdue football's lack of recent success. Okay, that's nonsensical enough, but we'll continue.
As we tried to articulate -- and continue to try to -- we never, under any circumstances, root for Purdue to fail. Even if we disliked Coach Hope (which we do not), we wouldn't want to see him fail. We want success for our alma mater and would like nothing more than to see Coach Hope lifting trophies and hugging his players.
However, we've felt for more than a few years now that football program has been heading in the wrong direction. Maybe it started with the apex in 2004 vs Wisconsin, maybe it was sooner than that... or maybe it was later. Nobody knows for sure, of course. But things have not been heading in a positive direction in number of years now. Losses have been of the painful variety on many occasions, either because of sheer curb-stompings at the hands of OSUs and Illinois of the world, or because of losing to lesser-league foes like Toledo and Northern Illinois.
My prediction for the MTSU game was that Purdue would lose because, quite simply, recent years and experience levels in this game suggested that to me. And as we often say, we hope we're wrong with predictions like that, but until the final minute of the fourth, I didn't think I was going to be incorrect.
Which leads us to the terrific finish and the aftermath. On Twitter, there was a LOAD of Boiler-on-Boiler hate crimes.... mainly people who purport to be Purdue fans absolutely destroying us for being happy with the win. As B-Dowd noted earlier, we don't think this was a good game. In fact, it is worrisome that Purdue had the kinds of troubles they did.... but was it all that surprising? It shouldn't have been if you've been watching for the past few years.
We were told that you have to blow out teams like MTSU. MTSU has gone to two straight bowls, folks. They're not a bad team. Yes, Purdue should beat them like a drum, we agree.... but when was the last time Purdue steamrolled teams? You might have to go all the way back to the Kyle Orton days. That's a long time, people.
In perhaps the most insane thing we've ever seen on Twitter (at least directed at us), we were also likened to the holocaust for telling one supposed Purdue fan that she should support her school -- she replied and said isn't that what the Nazis said when they were killing people -- to support the government. (This exchange seriously happened.) Yes, a very lucid, rational comparison. As you might imagine, she got the rarely-used Twitter Banhammer.
The point of all this? It's okay to enjoy an exciting win. Did you see Auburn's fans and players enjoying their comeback versus Utah State? Yes, you have to keep things in perspective and understand that there's a lot to work on...and yes, maybe some of the excitement was relief. But so what? Your team won and that's what matters. Given the two positions Purdue could be in today, 1-0 sure feels a lot better than 0-1. This is not to say there isn't a lot to work on -- there is. And it's not to say they're now going to have a good season -- they might not. But you saw Caleb TerBush grow up in that fourth quarter and you saw a comeback win with the kind of passing play that, as B-Dowd alluded to, we haven't seen from a Purdue QB in a very long time.
So yes, retain your concerns. Yes, curb your optimism with caution. But also, enjoy wins when they happen. It's okay to like your school.
Herr J says so.